Various structures have been proposed for a door handle for a vehicle for opening and closing a vehicle door. For example, a known door handle for a vehicle is disclosed in JP3326380B2. The door handle for a vehicle disclosed is in a substantially identical plane with an outer panel of a vehicle door. The door handle is rotatable relative to two rotational centers for the purposes of reducing a positional change of the handle in a rotational direction.
When the door handle is assembled to the outer panel that forms an exterior surface of the vehicle door, the door handle is constituted so as to form a substantially identical plane with the outer panel without protruding therefrom. That is, a case rotatably supporting the handle includes an exterior surface formed in a substantially identical plane with the outer panel when assembled to the vehicle. Further, the exterior surface of the case includes a hole into which a keyhole of a key cylinder, which is integrally formed with the door handle when the door handle is assembled to the vehicle door, is disposed.
When the aforementioned door handle is fixed to the vehicle door, a bolt tightening may be implemented on multiple portions on a vehicle interior side of the outer panel. That is, the case may be fixed unstably in the rotational direction of the door handle by means of one portion of bolt tightening and thus at least two portions of bolt tightening are employed for secure tightening so as to prevent the case from rotating.
A recent vehicle door may accommodate therein a beam for ensuring rigidity against collision, a power window mechanism, a power door lock mechanism, and the like. Therefore, when the door handle is assembled to the vehicle door, only a small space is available, thereby causing a difficulty in assembly.
Thus, a need exists for a door handle for a vehicle that can be easily assembled to a vehicle door. Precisely, a need exists for a door handle for a vehicle that can be surely fixed to a vehicle door by means of one bolt.